Chinese authorities have forced thousands of fugitives to return home, according to a report.
Nearly 10,000 dissidents have been brought back to China through a program code-named “Operation Sky Net,” according to Chinese state data. However, many of them were forced through illegal means, according to a report released by the nongovernmental organization Safeguard Defenders.
“Formal legal procedures such as extraditions play an almost non-existent role in the claimed success rate of the Sky Net campaign. Instead, these involuntary returns (IR) account for the vast majority of Sky Net’s track record,” Safeguard Defenders claimed.
Chinese state media have openly touted the success of Operation Sky Net, framing it as an “anti-corruption manhunt operation.” The operation claimed to have brought 1,421 fugitives back to China in 2020. However, the operations have expanded the presence of Chinese police across the globe. Chinese officials have relied on three primary tools to force a fugitive’s return: threats to family still in China, secret police threatening fugitives outside China, and kidnapping.
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“With the Chinese diaspora growing at an ever faster rate as more people seek to leave China … Beijing has never been more motivated to expand the powers of its security forces overseas,” the report said.
Sky Net was launched in 2014 alongside Operation Fox Hunt. This “shadowy fugitive-apprehension program is a pillar of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign,” reported ProPublica. The two programs have significantly contributed to the coercion and forced return of thousands of Chinese fugitives.
This included hiring private eyes in the United States to assist in extraditing fugitives from within U.S. borders, the report said.
The report also noted that China has worked with local law enforcement to force fugitives to return, such as Egyptian police arresting and deporting Uyghurs in partnership with China.
“With involuntary returns, the CCP’s message is that nowhere is safe; fleeing overseas will not save you, there is no escape,” the report added.
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In light of these illegal operations, Safeguard Defenders called for “an immediate suspension of extradition treaties with China, the termination of any agreements signed with [China’s National Supervision Commission], and comprehensive reviews of other forms of judicial cooperation.”
